


Under One Condition

by one_last_surprise



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Happy Tony Stark, Mild Language, Other, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, happy birthday tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24442039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_last_surprise/pseuds/one_last_surprise
Summary: “I’m not doing it,” Tony declared as he and Peter walked through the elevator doors and into the common area of the tower.“Why not? You’d be so cool!” Peter said with a snicker.“What’s he trying to convince you to do now?” Rhodes asked from where he was reading on the couch. Before Tony could say a word, Peter began speaking.“He has just been offered thegreatestopportunity of all time, and he…Turned. It. Down!” Peter exclaimed, tossing his backpack to the floor and collapsing onto the couch. Rhodey raised his eyebrows at Tony, who rolled his eyes. The kid had a penchant for exaggeration that rivaled his own.orPeter tries to persuade Tony to accept a hilarious opportunity, but Tony refuses to give in (at least for a little while).
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 24
Kudos: 288





	Under One Condition

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is just a short little story in honor of Tony Stark's birthday! I hope it brings a smile to your face. 
> 
> It's pure fluff and all happiness! Enjoy!

Tony Stark was having a bad day. 

It definitely wasn’t as bad as his worst days, but the universe seemed to be conspiring against him. Again.

First, DUM-E spilled his coffee three times before Tony finally got a cup. Then Pepper forced him to go to a board meeting, which was, (not) shockingly, boring. He skipped lunch to catch up on work. And then fell asleep at his desk due to aforementioned lack of coffee. He woke up twenty minutes later with an ache in his back and had to rush out the door for another meeting. He threw on a suit and splashed some water on his face before hopping into his car. 

Tony pulled up to Midtown Tech and parked in the carpool lane. He strode through the font doors, checkbook in hand. When the principal had called and asked to set up a meeting, Tony thought maybe something was up with Peter or the (fake) internship. When the man reassured him that Peter was doing fine, he assumed they must want a donation. 

The meeting was blessedly short, and Tony walked out of the office right as the final bell rang. The principal walked him out, and the dull day became slightly brighter as Tony picked out a familiar curly brown mop of hair among the sea of high schoolers. 

“Mr. Stark!” Peter greeted, waving slightly. 

“Hey, Pete! Ready to go? Figure since I’m here I might as well drive you instead of making Happy come out here,” Tony grinned. 

“Are you…?” Peter began, and Tony thought he saw a flash of confusion dart across the kid’s face. Peter pulled out his phone and checked something.

“Everything okay?” Tony asked. Peter looked back up and slid the phone into his pocket.

“Yeah, I was just texting May. Let’s go!” he said, taking a few rapid steps to catch up with Tony.

—+—+—+—+—

“I’m not doing it,” Tony declared as he and Peter walked through the elevator doors and into the common area of the tower.

“Why not? You’d be so cool!” Peter said with a snicker. 

“What’s he trying to convince you to do now?” Rhodes asked from where he was reading on the couch. Before Tony could say a word, Peter began speaking. 

“He has just been offered the _greatest_ opportunity of all time, and he…Turned. It. Down!” Peter exclaimed, tossing his backpack to the floor and collapsing onto the couch. Rhodey raised his eyebrows at Tony, who rolled his eyes. The kid had a penchant for exaggeration that rivaled his own.

“I’m not doing it, Pete,” he repeated. 

“Somebody please clue me in so I can pick a side,” Rhodey said, glancing between the two heroes. Peter leaned forward, poised to tell the story.

“So I’m at school, right? And it’s in between sixth and seventh period so I’m going to my locker to put my math book away and who do I see walking into the office? None other than Mr. Stark,” Peter said, pointing to where he was still standing. 

“You don’t say?” Rhodes replied, crossing his arms and leaning back on the couch. 

“So the whole time I’m in P.E. I’m just trying to figure out what Mr. Stark is doing at my high school—”

“Telling your principal what a bad employee you are,” Tony cut in as he walked into the kitchen. It had dawned on him that skipping both breakfast and lunch was probably a bad idea if he was going to have to keep up with Peter all afternoon. 

“Is this story ever going to tell me what the incredible offer was?” Rhodes asked. 

“If you all would stop interrupting me, maybe I would actually be able to tell the story!” Peter said, and Tony could picture the kid practically vibrating in his seat. “So after class I’m about to leave and start patrolling like I usually do, but Mr. Stark and my principal are walking out of the office...” Peter trailed off, and Tony could only imagine the smug look on his face. 

Tony returned from the kitchen with a handful of blueberries and tossed one at Peter. It would have hit his cheek, but Peter snatched out of the air it before it touched him. Tony never could get over the kid’s ability to catch things without ever turning his head.

“I swear, if you guys don’t get to the point—” Rhodey interjected.

“Okay, okay!” Peter chucked the berry back at Tony as he turned to face Rhodes. “So my principal sees me and says, ‘Parker, you intern for Mr. Stark, right?’ And I say, ‘yeah’ all confused because by this point _everybody_ knows. And he tells me...” 

Peter burst into laughter with a glance at Tony. The sound was bright and bubbly and horribly contagious, and Tony struggled to maintain his annoyance.

“It’s _not_ that funny!” Tony rolled his eyes. 

“You finish...can’t breathe,” Peter sputtered, clutching his sides. 

“No, no, no,” Tony popped a blueberry in his mouth. “You started this story, and you’re going to finish it Spider-boy.”

“My school has,” Peter wheezed as he held back another burst of laughter. “My school has these PSAs that they play for us. They’re, like, meant to inspire you to be good or something, but they’re all with Captain America.”

“What?” Rhodey asked, glancing at Tony, who shrugged and ate another blueberry. So what if the state had a poor choice in heroes? That wasn’t his problem. But it _had_ been pretty great to see Rogers, who had probably broken more laws than Tony, recite some dumb script about detention. He’d have to tell FRIDAY to download a copy of that video. 

“Yeah. I’m serious. But he’s like a fugitive now, as you know, so they’re trying to get the videos replaced with someone else....” Peter paused for dramatic flair, “and my principal asked Mr. Stark to do them!”

“He asked Tony ‘bad decisions are my MO’ Stark to make PSA videos for high schoolers?” Rhodes questioned, stifling a laugh of his own. Peter was wiping tears from his eyes as he nodded vigorously. 

“It’s not that funny!” Tony insisted. At first, he thought the principal was joking. Of all the ridiculous things people had wanted Iron Man to do over the years, making a PSA video for high schoolers was never even on the radar. On top of the horrible morning he’d had, it took all his willpower to leave without, as Pepper would say, ‘making a scene.’

“Picturing you in an Iron Man suit saying, ‘a healthy breakfast is the start to any hero’s day’ is probably the funniest thing that I could ever imagine,” Peter smirked. Rhodes let out a chuckle. Tony chewed slowly on another blueberry to avoid falling into their trap. If he was being honest, the more Peter nagged him about it, the funnier the situation became.

“Well I’m sorry you’ll never get to see it in real life, then,” Tony said, taking a seat next to Peter. 

“C’mon, Mr. Stark! You have to!” Peter begged. 

“I don’t do endorsements. And I sure as hell won’t brainwash America’s youth with lies. I start my day with a coffee and two hours of sleep, not breakfast and a good night’s rest,” Tony replied. 

“We don’t _actually_ listen to them.”

“So what’s the point?”

“The _point_ ,” Peter huffed, as if it should be obvious, “is that the people are calling out to Iron Man for help. And it is your sacred duty as a superhero to help them. And it would be funny.”

“I gotta agree with the kid on this one, Tones. This sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Rhodey chimed in. 

“Not you too,” Tony groaned. 

“Please, Mr. Stark! If you do it, I’ll...I’ll never disable the safety protocols on my suit again,” Peter offered. 

“You’ve gotten too comfortable around here, Pete. Bargaining with the boss? Who do you think you are?” Tony shook his head, but he was smiling too. All hope was lost now. They’d broken down his façade.

“Just imagine it, Mr. Stark. You’ll be made into so many memes!” Peter said, biting his lip. Just what he needed, more pictures of him doing stupid shit circling the internet.

“Don’t you have homework to do?” Tony asked.

“That’s a good start! ‘Today, I’m the owner of Stark Industries, but I was once a student, too. Doing your homework is the best way—” Peter imitated Tony’s voice. 

“I swear, Pete, I am going to take away your suit if you keep this up,” Tony said, tossing a throw pillow at the boy. Peter easily blocked it. 

“Well if you two are going to start a pillow fight, I think I’m going to take my reading elsewhere,” Rhodes said, grabbing his book off the table and heading to the elevator. 

“No,” Tony called after him. “The kid’s not scared of me anymore but you still intimidate him a little. I need backup, here!”

“Like I said, I think you should do it, Tones. I mean, when else will Iron Man get the chance to go to high school?”

“I was imagining a graduation speech or career day or something. Not a reboot of PSAs made by fucking Steve Rogers,” Tony groaned, putting his face in his hands. “I need to throw a party or piss off the government or something. My image is getting too soft.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rhodes said, giving a small wave as the elevator doors closed. 

“You said the f word,” Peter said, face somber. 

“So? Since when—”

“No swearing in the PSAs, just so you know,” Peter said as his face broke into a smile. 

“I am going to send you home right now if you don’t stop bugging me about the _f u c k i n g_ ,” Tony drew the word out, “videos.”

“No you won’t.”

“I will.”

“Nope,” Peter shook his head. “You _like_ spending time with me.”

“You’re actually a huge pain in the ass, Parker. Here I am sitting on the couch arguing with a teenager in the middle of the day instead of working,” Tony replied. 

“No, you like hanging out with me. Do you wanna know how I know?” Peter asked, bouncing in his seat. 

“Enlighten me,” Tony rolled his eyes. He seemed to be doing that a lot, today. 

“I come over after school every Friday, right?”

“Yes, Spider-ling. Do they not teach the days of the week anymore?”

“Well,” Peter paused dramatically, “today is Wednesday.”

“No, it’s—” Tony froze as he realized that it was indeed Wednesday. “Wait. Don’t you have decathlon practice on Wednesday?” He checked his watch and began calculating how long it would take to get Peter back to school.

“Usually, but it was cancelled today because half the team was out sick, and you automatically assumed I was coming with you, and, I couldn’t just pass up that opportunity, so I thought I’d just go with it,” Peter shrugged, leaning back on the couch. 

“I’m still not doing the PSAs,” Tony replied. 

“Not even one?”

“Nope.”

“What about if FRIDAY films it in the workshop and I _only_ show it to Colonel Rhodes and Ned?” Peter proposed, looking up at Tony with all the sincerity in the world. Tony pretended to think about it.

“Okay, maybe one single video. But only under one condition: I get to write my own script. And if it winds up on YouTube, I’m posting some of _your_ lovely impersonation videos,” Tony countered. 

Peter tapped his finger against his chin, as if he was a philosopher deep in thought. 

“Deal,” he said, reaching out a hand. Tony shook it, and then found that he couldn’t pull away. 

“Parker—”

“And you have to let me pick what’s for dinner tonight,” Peter said rapid-fire before unsticking from Tony’s hand. 

“Cheater,” Tony huffed. Peter smirked, and began pulling books out of his bag. 

“I’m sorry, Peter is not available right now. He has homework to do,” he said in a monotone voice. 

Tony sighed and pulled out his phone. He began scrolling through emails. 

Tony scoffed at a message from SHIELD and saw Peter look up from his work and smile softly in his peripheral vision. The kid quickly turned back to his assignment when Tony caught his eye. 

“What?” Tony asked. Peter was silent for a beat.

“I um...I like hanging out with you too,” he said, fiddling with his pencil. Tony smiled. 

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad day after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated:)
> 
> If you want to see them make the PSA video, check out [Going Off Script](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24695161)!


End file.
